Pinarayi accuses Congress of helping BJP grow in Kerala via 'Mattathur Model'

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday (December 28) accused the Congress of facilitating the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) growth in the state, citing recent political developments in the Mattathur grama panchayat in Thrissur district.

In Mattathur, eight Congress councillors resigned from the party and joined hands with the BJP to support an independent candidate for the panchayat president's post, preventing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) from retaining control of the local body, which it had dominated for more than two decades.

Also Read: Bengaluru demolitions: DKS asks Pinarayi not to interfere in Karnataka’s affairs

In the recently held panchayat election, the ruling LDF emerged as the single-largest front with 10 seats, followed by the Congress with eight and the BJP with four. Two Independents, including Congress rebel K R Ouseph, were also elected.

Presidential election twist

When the election to the post of panchayat president was held on Saturday (December 27), Ouseph decided to support the LDF. In view of this, the eight Congress councillors resigned from the party and backed the other independent candidate Tessi Jose, along with the BJP, for the president’s post.

Also read: Congress left red-faced in Kerala as internal feud helps rival BJP in local bodies

This ‘alliance’ of resigned Congress councillors and the BJP secured victory in the election. However, the councillors later clarified that they had not joined the BJP, even as the Congress’s Thrissur District Congress Committee issued orders suspending the councillors, including Ouseph, from the party.

'BJP swallowed Congress'

In a Facebook post, Vijayan said the Congress was a party constantly waiting for an opportunity to make a “single jump” into the BJP, and that such a jump was witnessed at Mattathur.

He alleged that all Congress candidates who were elected as panchayat members defected to the BJP, enabling it to seize power. “Only eight Congress members were left in the UDF there. The BJP swallowed them whole, leaving not even one behind,” he said, adding that such a political spectacle was unprecedented in Kerala.

Parallels with other states

Drawing parallels with other states, Vijayan recalled that in 2016, 43 out of 44 Congress MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh, including the chief minister, defected overnight to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. He also referred to Puducherry, where the BJP came to power in 2021 despite having no MLAs, and to Goa, where the entire Congress legislative party merged with the BJP in 2019.

Also read: Xmas outreach, silence on attacks: PM’s maiden service ahead of Kerala polls

Vijayan alleged that Congress leaders joined hands with the BJP in Mattathur to prevent an LDF president from coming to power. “What is being proven here is that those who remain in the Congress today will not hesitate to become BJP overnight. Congress leaders feel no moral conflict in replacing the hand symbol with the lotus,” he said.

The ‘Mattathur Model’

He further claimed that BJP-Congress adjustments were evident in several places across the state, as reflected in the local body election results. “The Mattathur model is the latest chapter in that strategy,” he said.

Vijayan, in a X post, said that what happened in Mattathur panchayat in Kerala yesterday reveals a vicious trend: Congress members joining hands with the BJP to seize power.

Also read: BJP's 2024 LS poll show in Kerala under lens as SIR exposes shocking ASD entries

“This politics of turncoats directly strengthens the Sangh Parivar’s project by normalising defections and eroding democratic mandates. Such conduct, seen earlier in Arunachal, Goa and Puducherry, fuels the BJP’s ambitions in Kerala. The Congress leadership must respond clearly to this dangerous drift,” he wrote.

Opposition reject defection claim

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan of the Congress, denied allegations that members of his party had switched to the BJP in Mattathur panchayat.

Also Read: Kerala MLA says councillor asked him to vacate civic body building after BJP takeover

He counter-alleged that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was raising the Mattathur incident as it had no other issues to discuss. "In Mattathur, when the CPI(M) attempted to install an independent councillor as panchayat president, Congress councillors supported another independent candidate," he said.

He added that the councillors were suspended for violating the party’s decision. "They have not switched to the BJP," he said.

The Opposition leader also hit out at Chief Minister Vijayan, alleging that he was aligned with the BJP. "He will sign wherever Narendra Modi asks him to. Such a person is now ridiculing us," he said.

(With agency inputs)